South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

No. 30.- DATES OF PANDYA KINGS.
BY F. KIELHORN, PH.D., LL.D., C.I.E. ; GÖTTINGEN.

Dr. Hultzsch has sent me for examination the texts and English translations of fifty-fourPâṇḍya dates.^[1] Of this number I now publish, with the results of my calculations, twenty-six dates, together with four others (Nos. 1, 5, 14 and 16 of my list), which have been published by Dr. Hultzsch in the Indian Antiquary, and for two of which (Nos. 14 and 16) the European equivalents have been already ascertained by the late Mr. S. B. Dikshit. All these dates quote only regnal years, not years of any era ; and in a number of cases it was uncertain whether the dates connected with a particular name belonged to the reign of one king or to the reigns of two or more kings bearing the same name. How my results will fit into the history of the time to which the dates refer, others may decide ; I have been solely guided by the dates, and have not allowed myself to be influenced by other considerations. Though the dates do not quote years of any era, the fact that some of them, in addition to the weekday, the tithi and the nakshatra, also give the corresponding solar day, has helped me greatly in ascertaining what I consider to be the proper European equivalents, and makes me place great confidence in the results which I now put forward. The reader will understands this when he sees, that e.g. for the date No. 1 there is only a single day in 500 years that would fully satisfy all the requirements of the original date. To Dr. Hultzsch I owe sincere thanks for having enabled me to do this work.

A.-JATAVARMAN KULASEKHARA.

1.─Date in the larger Tiruppûvaṇam grant.^[2]
Plate i. a, line 4 f.

Nijê vatsarê pañchaviṁśê chaṇḍâṁśâv-âtta-Châpê Kanakapati-tithau kṛishṇapaksh-Ârkivâra-Svâtî-yôgê ;

“ in his twenty-fifth year, while the sun was in Châpa, on the tithi Kanakapati, at the union of Saturday and Svâtî in the dark fortnight.”

Plate v. b, line 2 f.

Padinmûnrâvadin=edir panniraṇḍâm=âṇḍu Dhanu-nâyarru nâlân=diyadiyum apara-pakshattu êkâdaśiyum Śani-kkilamaiyum perra Śôdi-nâḷ ;

“ the day of Svâti, which corresponded to a Saturday, and to the eleventh tithi of the second fortnight, and to the fourth solar day of the month of Dhanus, in the twelfth year opposite to the thirteenth.”

Between A.D. 1000 and 1500 there is only a single year for which this date would be absolutely correct, viz. the year 1214. In this year the Dhanuḥ-saṁkrânti took place 8 h. 43 m. after mean sunrise of Wednesday, the 26th November, which was the first day of the month of Dhanus. The 4th day of the month of Dhanus therefore was Saturday, the 29th November. And on this day the 11th tithi of the dark half (of the month Mârgaśîrsha) ended 9 h. 38 m., and the nakshatra was Svâti, by the equal space system for 19 h. 3 m., according to Garga for 6 h. 34 m., and by the Brahma-siddhânta for 2 h. 38 ., after mean sunrise. Accordingly, if the date does fall between A.D. 1000 and 1500 and has been correctly recorded, Saturday, the 29th November A.D. 1214, must be its proper equivalent.

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^[1] [It is but right to state that these dates were looked up, transcribed and translated by my First Assistant, Mr. V. Venkayya, and that I have done nothing but checking his transcripts and renderings.─E. H.]
^{[2 ]}See Dr. Hultzsch in Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 288.